Rodney McAree thrilled to work with striker yet again as Swifts boss wants points as quickly as possible
Rodney McAree says he is delighted to once again work with Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe as the striker is poised to make his return in Dungannon Swifts colours.
The English-born marksman had a successful six-month stint at Stangmore Park from August to January last year but left for a spell at Al-Shabab in Kuwait.
However, Junior is now set to add to his ten goals during his Dungannon career after his move back to the Irish Cup finalists was confirmed late last week.
He also brings a wealth of experience after previously playing in the League of Ireland with Derry City, Sligo Rovers, Dundalk, Bohemians and Galway United, as well as Glentoran in the Premiership. This is in addition to periods playing in England and in Cyprus throughout his career in football.
The 32-year-old failed to receive his international clearance in time which meant he had to sit out Dungannon’s 3-1 loss to Coleraine last Saturday.
But it is hoped that his clearance will be approved in time for this Saturday’s visit to Portadown.
Speaking about reuniting with Junior yet again, McAree said: “It’s brilliant.
"I think ‘Juns’ is an absolutely terrific guy as well and he's really well thought of in the dressing room.
"He's different in the aspect that he's big and he's strong, but he's not different in the fact that he's a very, very good footballer too.
"He's technically very good, so he gives us the opportunity of another option of playing through the middle and somebody we can play off.
"He's hungry for goals too, ‘Juns’, so we'll get him in amongst the group and we'll go from there.
"We'll see where his fitness level is at and go from there.”
Whilst Junior failed to feature against title-chasing Coleraine, there were debuts for Barney McKeown, as well as Jamie Glackin and Kris Lowe who have returned to the Swifts this summer after spells elsewhere.
“I thought the other guys that played on Saturday...Kris Lowe was exceptional,” he added.
"Barney done very well on his competitive debut for Dungannon Swifts, too.
"Jamie Glackin done really well in the minutes he was on the pitch and it was nice to see Darragh McBrien back.”
The contest on Saturday will mark David Jeffrey’s first home game in charge of Portadown, who started the season with a 1-0 loss at Carrick Rangers.
McAree has challenged his players to pick up as many points early doors after a sluggish start last season.
He remarked: “It'll be nice to see big Davy as he's a man who I have a lot of time for.
"But it's a Mid-Ulster derby, it's one that we will look forward to.
"It's maybe a good time to go to Shamrock Park in terms of the pitch as it's going to be as best as it possibly can.
"We took too long getting points last season, so we have to get points on the board as soon as we can here this season.
"If you think back to the opening five games last season and the points that were dropped...what a difference it could have made come the end of the season.”